Wireless communication devices (e.g., cellular phones) provide a very convenient way of communicating between their users. But, even in emergency situations, such communication between the users is impossible if, for example, the receiving call wireless device is put into a silent mode.
Nevertheless, there are many situations when a user might want to put a device into a silent mode so the device does not ring when it receives a call. Examples of such situations include circumstances where the “ringing” would interfere with other activities (e.g. sleeping, conducting a meeting, etc.); would present interference to an audience (e.g. in theatres or conferences); or would present a risk to safe travel, for example, on commercial airlines during take-off and landing.
However, very often the device remains in a silent mode for no other reason than just because the user forgot to change the silent mode of the device to an active mode. Furthermore, there are situations where the silent mode of the device should be overridden regardless of whether the user is asleep, attending a meeting, or just forgot to turn the ringer on. For example, there are emergency situations where contacting the cellular phone user is critical. In those situations, overriding the silent mode of the device may be appropriate.
There are several systems and methods in the art designed to change the settings and profiles of users of wireless devices. For example, U.S. Published Patent Application US 2005/0107077 A1 to Hintermeier et al. discloses a method of remotely reconfiguring a portable radio device by adjusting its ringer volume, shutting it down, etc. The application discloses a control station (“radio commander”) which can detect the presence of a portable radio device within the controlled area, and can send a command to the portable radio device to change an internal setting of the device, such as, for example, to reduce the volume of the device, or to turn the device off. The radio commander can send such a command over out-of-band channels and protocols so it does not interfere with normal cellular telephone traffic. However, the radio commander is only a short range communication device and, thus, it allows communication with portable radio devices only if they come within the short range of the radio commander. Furthermore, the invention does not provide for sending a command to change an internal setting of one portable device by another user from another portable device.
Another example is U.S. Published Patent Application US 2004/0203695 A1, which discloses a system and method for changing the settings of a communication device relative to the instant messaging presence of a user profile, logged into the communication device on a telecommunications network. The system comprises a communication device that receives a changed instant messaging presence indicator regarding the user profile from the telecommunications network, determines the settings corresponding to changed instant messaging presence, and then changes the settings, such as the ring volume, display options such as increased or decreased brightness, etc.
Yet another example is U.S. Published Patent Application US 2005/0096030 A1, which discloses a system and method for controlling a wireless communication device by Dual Tone, Multi-Frequency (“DTMF”) commands. The system can accept and process DTMF control signals sent over the air on a voice connection as commands such as for example, to cause a cellular phone to ring even though it has been configured into a silent mode. The control signals can be received under an “auto-answer” scheme, or as a unique signal (e.g., a special packet data command) that established the voice connection. After receiving the control signal, the device can enter a command mode where the remote user can send commands that operate the device remotely.
However, until now, there has been no system allowing a user of one wireless communication device to override the setting of another wireless communication device. Accordingly, what is needed is a system and method that allows two wireless devices to communicate with each other (directly or indirectly) using e.g. Short Message Service (“SMS”) protocol or Internet Protocol (“IP”) to override the silent mode of another wireless communication device.